We make the choice here on earth

In Luke 16 with Lazarus and the "certain" rich man. This is not a parable since Jesus does not mention names in parables. Lazarus immediately went to paradise and the rich man immediately went to the place of torment. Wishing for a drop of water on his tongue which was the Gospel which he rejected.

We make the choice here on earth

In Luke 16 with Lazarus and the "certain" rich man. This is not a parable since Jesus does not mention names in parables. Lazarus immediately went to paradise and the rich man immediately went to the place of torment. Wishing for a drop of water on his tongue which was the Gospel which he rejected.

Yes, when a person dies, their fate is immediate.

Based on what the Bible says, a person's spirit (soul is the personality, but I understand what this questioner meant) has a fate that occurs immediately following death. For an answer to this question, perhaps the best thing to do is to look at the recorded word of Jesus, rather than to debate it based on personal opinion. When He was being crucified on the cross between two criminals, one of them repented and acknowledged who Jesus was. Luke 23:43 states that Jesus told him he would be with Him "today" in paradise.

We'll know once we're dead

No one knows anything! When you're on the other side then you can talk. Hell is living in the physical. Through reincarnation you become one with the universe and make it to the spirit world where all is known and understood w/o any question. This is a stepping stone on the journey. Only stillborns and the young make it to spirit world from here. No adult will make it, most will be born again in another world or back to this one, and not remember past lives. Either you learn to advance or you can regress, it's your choice, you don't remember past lives so you can improve or crumble, although crumbling can lead to insight. It's a long path, leave it better than when you first entered.

The Bible isn't clear.

The Bible doesn't exactly spell it out where the soul goes after one dies. Some say that it could be interpreted as saying that the soul goes to sleep until the Lord calls on it. There will be many different opinions and interpretations of the bible though and many different versions of the Bible.